The Bench Market — Restaurant in Penticton

Have been a loyal customer for many, many, many years. But have noticed over the last while that food options are not as healthy and/or have as many "sugar free" options as is the trend with many others in the food industry. But far more worrisome was the atmosphere, specifically the arrogant and entitled behaviour by a number of wannabe 60 something cyclists sitting at the outside table around 11am this Sunday morning. Acted liked they owned the place, butting in front of people in line, and showed little to no regard for others in the queue. But what prompted me to actually take the time out of my day to write such a review - was a particular incident. Seeing that a long line up existed, one of these "riders" decked out in his gear and "tights" picked up a bag of coffee, walked past everyone in the line up, including the elderly senior next in line, and stated boldy - "I've already gone through" - as though it gave him "carte blanche" to exert his providence over others, and in front of the teller. Rude, arrogant (a local) and arguably a bully toward a little old lady - acted as though his dreamt up stature and idea of "class" made it okay. To add insult to injury - he then proceeded to order for the next couple of minutes - all of the food for his table of 6 outside. I've seen such bullish pricks often, having raced my entire life - and have often found that the most humble, reserved, and quiet opponents who respect others are the most to be feared on the figurative battle field. Not some jerk complete with stench, sweat, and "ball huggers" proudly putting a senior in place. And it is this "shot across the bow" of a review whose intent is to help "The Bench" keep such roughshods in check. And to the many dignified, empathetic, and selfless athletes who constitute the majortiy of locals, including Ironmen and Ironwomen - thank you for not acting like these questionable blokes. And to the Bench - I will return and glady "re-edit" in a more favourable light for "atmosphere" provided someone calls out these "bad apples" who seem to frequent your establishment more and more as...

The Staff was friendly and did a decent job out front. The waffles were undercooked and came with mostly melon as the side of fruit. Seemed like a clear miss to me as you could have had berries or a mixture that could have gone on top. The way it is written on the menu it seems like you can put the fruit on top of the waffles but it turned out as a mushy mess with only trying to add just some of the blue berries. It was a good thing my girlfriend gave me some of her meal or else I would have had a really bad morning. She had the Bench breakfast plate which had great smoked salmon and bacon but was way smaller than anticipated but both meals were smaller than anticipated. Cinnamon butter would have been great if it didn't make the undercooked waffles even more mushy.

I want to blame the shortcomings on the fact that we're coming out of a pandemic and it was busy and lots of places are understaffed but I don't think that was the case here. If the owner or someone who works there reads this add some banana or berries or something to the waffles so it's more filling and at least then if the waffles aren't as crispy as they should be you might leave full with just your plate.

The coffee was good and a good size! The waffle recipe was tasty as was the...

This place is fine. I was surprised by the cafeteria style - you need to order at the counter and then find a seat. It was chaotic, and I didn't see any signage telling us to order at the counter, so we waited outside for a while while folks who worked there just walked past us. Once I figured it out and went inside, it was so cramped that I felt pressure to read the menu as fast as possible. Ended up going to the table and asking my partner to order for me as I couldn't handle the rushed vibe of the interior. I watched as he was inside, several other folks experience the same thing - arriving, waiting outside, looking confused, and some even choosing to leave. The food itself was fine, but the portions were small, and my toast felt... cheap? I am a hash brown enthusiast, and there wasn't any. My partner had a single small potato with his meal, not crispy. That's not bad, but it's not...